Mommy, Gram and Uncle Shane

Grandpa Benson was digging through some old pictures and sent this one of me, my Mom and brother Shane.

Blue Eyed Girl

Evelyn's eyes seem to be getting more blue every day. Click the picture and you can get a better look at them. Also, note the barrette. Her hair is getting long enough finally! But, they fall out fast. Sylvia's eyes are a really pretty hazel, but they change all the time. Some days they are more blue, sometimes grey, sometimes green. I don't know if they will stay hazel or settle into a specific color.

Sylvia Sitting

The girls are now both sitting for longer periods of time. I'm not sure who is "better" at it. They are both about as good as the other. Sylvia seems to like to stay sitting longer, while Evelyn prefers to be on her belly or held up standing.

Halloween

For Halloween, Evelyn was a pea in a pod (remember, this was also my shower theme) and Sylvia was a baby chick. David said because Sylvia is bigger (he now calls her three-quartey because she is in teh 75th percentile), Evelyn should have been the baby chick. He was worried about her looking fat. Babies are supposed to be fat! The chubbier the better, right!? They were totally adorable and didn't seem to mind being in their costumes at all. Our friends Lori and David came over with their 9 month old, Maddie. I think Maddie wanted to eat our babies! Soooo cute!

First Crawls

Evelyn is super active; we've said that many times. Now she is scooting quite well backwards. I never knew that for some babies it is the first step before they move forward. The videos were taken about a week apart. Can you see her progress?

Cute Girls

These girls are just so darn cute and changing every day.

Teething

While we haven't seen any teeth lately, the girls want to chew on everything. Evelyn really likes her frozen rings, but gets really mad when her hands get too cold. Sylvia has been gnawing on her star cookie in the exersaucer for a while now. Mommy didn't get teeth until 8 months, not sure about Daddy, so it could be a while until we see pearly whites!

Talking Sylvia

Sylvia loves to make noises. And, she loves her exersaucer even more. She's so cute and has so much fun entertaining herself in that thing.

Playing Together

After their bottles, we let them settle while sitting (lots of spit up happens if they are put on their bellies or backs). So, I entertain them with little toys.

New Noises

Evelyn has started this new noise--her grunt. At first I thought she was trying to go #2, but she does it all the time. It's pretty funny and a little weird.

6 Months Old!

The girls turned 6 months old this week. Gosh, time flies. Their doctor's visit went well and they were pleased with the girls' development. Here are the stats:

Sylvia

head: 17 inches -- 75th percentile

height: 25.5 inches--50th percentile

weight: 17lbs 3.4 oz--75th percentile

Evelyn

head: 16.25 inches -- 15th percentile

height: 25.25 inches -- 25th percentile

weight: 15lbs 15.4oz -- 50th percentile

Evelyn still holds her title of "itty bitty," but 50th percentile for weight is great. She has a solid little muscle-bound body. David calls her his "eel." Sylvia is definitely bigger; she's a chubby baby with fat rolls on fat rolls. The little ladies couldn't be more different and so special in their own ways. We are incredibly lucky!

Another 6 month note that they had their first fever 6 days before their half birthday. Evelyn had a really rough night and spent the entire evening in my arms. It was pretty terrible to see her so unhappy. Sylvia had a fever a few days before Evelyn, but was her typical happy go lucky self. We would have never known she had a fever if she wasn't taking super long naps and felt hot to the touch. I guess they were bound to pick up something eventually and I think six months is pretty good to be without a cold or any illness!

Happy half year birthday, babies!

New Toy

Who would have ever guessed that a blackberry would provide so much entertainment for a baby?! I guess it is shiny and lights up. Let's just hope they don't break it; it is government-issued.

Wind!

Anglea took this adorable video of the girls and it was definitely worth posting. She sends David and I pictures and updates every day; it brightens our day -- BIG TIME! I also come home to pictures on the camera and videos. Things really couldn't be better on the childcare front!

Lip Suck

Sylvia does this adorable little thing every once and a while, she sucks on her upper lip. The video is pretty good too. She just finished her squash in the picture above and was just about to be changed. Dirty girl!

Teething Rings

Evelyn loves these teething rings frozen and unfrozen. One day she stole her sisters. I have a feeling that's going to be a recurring theme. The other day, Evelyn took Sylvia's paci out of her mouth and Sylvia started to bawl! Poor baby!

Grandpa Benson and Grandma Snazzy Visit

The girls maternal grandparents visited (well, one set, Mommy's Dad and Step-Mom) all the way from Indiana. Grandpa fixed lots of stuff at the house and Grandma Snazzy helped keep the girls entertained while Mommy ran a few errands. We also got our H1N1 shots; the girls will get theirs soon (they aren't yet 6 months old yet!).

Enjoying the Outdoors

We've had super lousy weather lately, but Angela is good about taking advantage of every ounce of sunshine. Here they are enjoying a post-meal roll in the grass on a Fall day.

Bath Time with Daddy

These girls are just so darn cute when they are naked and just pulled from the tub. Here's Evelyn with Daddy. Note that gigantic grin.

Moving Beyond Cereal

Five days before their 6 month birthday, we made and fed the girls butternut squash. They made funny faces, but they ate it. We didn't even have to fake them out much by mixing it with oatmeal. So far, the girls have had rice, oatmeal, butternut squash, acorn squash and sweet potatoes. They are good eaters. Next we're doing green beans, peas, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, and corn! After we hit most of the veggies, we're moving onto fruit! [Excuse the chrismas bib on Evelyn, it was the biggest one we had at the time and we thought it was going to be super messy...it wasn't terrible.]

Making Baby Food

We are determined to provide the girls the best nutrition we can and that means that I continue to provide my milk and the girls will get homemade baby food. No preservatives for these girlies! Our first batch, Angela and I made butternut and acorn squash, sweet potatoes and green beans!

Continued Love Affair

Evelyn continues to have a love affair with shurtle (the stuffed toy that looks like a combination of a turtle and sheep). Since she still just sleeps about 30 minutes at time during the day (3 of them -- around 8:30, 12:30 and 4:30), she will sometimes catch a catnap when placed in the packnplay temporarily. Of course, she's got shurtle in her hands.

I'm Done!

Sylvia is so funny! She has already figured out how to communicate -- when she's done eating, she leans over backwards in her Bumbo. It's so funny and we worry that she's going to fall out.

Scratches and Bites

The girls' poor little faces have seen better days. No matter how often we cut Sylvia's fingernails, she will cut her face. She flails her arms around like wild and ultimately takes a swipe at her face. Then, we move onto poor little Evelyn. She must have her Daddy's sweet blood because this is the second time she's been bitten by a mosquito. The first picture you can see her 'skeeter bite on her nose, the picture below the bite is on her forehead. You can't miss Sylvia's multiple scratches on her face. Poor babies.

Daddy and Evelyn Bonding

For some reason, every picture I took this weekend was with David and Evelyn. They are super cute together. We call Evelyn our "tiny little baby" or "spikey." We also call her crazy because she's active and never wants to stop.

Belly Sleepers

The girls now love to sleep on their bellies. They both start off on their backs and then quickly turn over. It's really cute to roll them over in the morning, have them slowly open their eyes and then give us a big smile. Totally cute.

What is so funny is that Evelyn finds her way to the far corner of the crib and hangs her arm out the side. Almost always her pacifier has fallen out of the crib onto the floor...I think she is chasing it around the crib until she gets cornered (literally!). Sylvia often starts on her back, rolls to her side for half the night and then finds her way to her belly.

They are silly little babies, but 90% of the time they are sleeping 12 hours uninterrupted and that's super great! Sylvia is above, Evelyn below.

Playing Together

Both girls are so active these days! They entertain themselves now for quite a while and even take toys away from each other. This is a very cool toy the girls LOVE playing with. Sylvia kicks the side to get the pieces to move. Smart girl.

Pumpkin Patch Trip

Last weekend, the Morris' and Romley's hit the pumpkin patch. The girls enjoyed the trip and we even had a private hayride...only VIP treatment for the girls, of course. Josie and Bob's son, Clay, is 13 months old and such a busy body (a very well behaved little boy though). He was eating dirt and crawling everywhere. Let me tell you, we have some crazy times ahead of us in a few months! A good time was had by all.

5 Months

Here are their 5 month pictures (it's really 5 months and 1.5 weeks, but who's counting...Mommy has been busy). They are really growing!

Sylvia Loves Her Cookie

On the exersaucer, there is a round star that I call the "sugar cookie." Sylvia goes for it first and gnaws on it like it's a cookie. So cute! We think they are teething.

Sylvia Crashed

While Evelyn likes to eat books, Sylvia likes to take naps when we read her books. Her she is all cozy on the couch taking a nap like a big girl.

Evelyn Reads and Sits

Evelyn is a big girl. She is already reading on her own (well, she will grab the book, hold onto it and then try to eat it). But, she is really called a big girl because she is sitting up on her own! She is hunched over a bit, but steadies herself on her hands and stays there unassisted for several minutes. Then, she will gently fall over to her back (assisted), and then rolls over to her belly. The other day she kept rolling and rolling, three times!

Pretty Dresses!

Angela dressed the girls up yesterday in the cutest dresses and even put them in tights! She emailed this picture to me at work and I showed it off to everyone on my blackberry while in my meetings all day. A common comment was "I just want to pinch those cheeks!" Of course, referring to Sylvia.

Preparing for Winter

We've had a few chilly days and we are not prepared for winter! I have winter coats and a few sweaters, but nothing for these brisk Fall days. So, I went shopping and scored some cute fleece jackets and adorable little hats. Angela and I nearly rolled on the ground laughing when they tried them on.

Evelyn Holding Her BaBa

Evelyn was captured holding onto her bottle this week. I'm already betting that we'll have a hard time weaning her from the bottle when she's a year old because she loves her baba. My theory for her goofing off while she drinks is because she doesn't want to let it go.

Halloween Ghosts

Angela had the girls paint us Halloween ghosts this week. They are incredibly adorable. She painted their feet white and pressed them onto black paper. The heel part was the ghost's head and toes and foot were the body. Both David and I took them to work to show off our girls' first artwork. Notice Evelyn's foot is painted white in the picture.

Double Duty Feeding

David always feeds the girls by himself when I go for long runs on Sundays. He's getting really good at it. Go Daddy!

Sylvia Is All About Eating

Sylvia is now expressing interest in holding her own spoon, so we gave it to her. She nearly choked herself the first time and she got cereal all over herself, but she had a fun. She was talking up a storm like she was proud of herself. Her sister still gives the "this is disgusting" face when she eats cereal, but she's starting to get the hang of it.

10 Miles for the Girls

When I was pregnant I thought a great motivator for getting back into shape would be to sign up for a race. Today I ran the Army 10 miler. I had 3.5 months to train (since I was not allowed to exercise for about 6 weeks). I ran a long run and 2 short runs each week and ran 10 miles twice while training. It took some real motivation to go running when you're only sleeping 4 hours at a stretch, but it was so worth it. I got my old body back pretty quick and I feel healthy and fit.

It was a marvelous day and I've never had a better run (meaning I felt great the entire time and feel really good post-run...I was definitely slower than my old pace, but I expected as much). According to my GPS watch, I ran 10.19 miles at a 9:11 pace, but the official race results say I ran 9:21, which is still pretty darn good if you ask me. All of my training runs were at 9:45-ish pace, so a great improvement. David and the girls were there to root me on with incredibly cute signs with the girls' footprints and saying like "Run Mommy Run" and "Our Mom Rocks" taped to the stroller (courtesy of Angela!). It did it for Evelyn and Sylvia; they don't need an unhealthy or chubby Mommy (I guess for David too). :)